Lara Gillespie has finished 17th in the 10km Women’s Scratch Race at the Track World Championships in Paris Oct. 12th.
The Team Ireland rider was amongst the leading riders with less than ten laps to go and finished in the bunch after a strong ride.
After a cagey start, the pace kicked into gear in the final ten laps as riders battled for positions heading into the final laps as several riders attempted attacks.
The sprint was won by Martina Fidanza of Italy in an impressive finish.
Gillespie said:
“It was going good until the last five laps, I was in a good position, and I got into a good place. But I got into a pinch point where I had to backpedal to get back around. I probably should have tried to squeeze into that gap but it was quite dangerous.”
“I did my best and I put out really good power. I gave it everything and I’m looking forward to building on this and getting more race experience at this level. I’m happy I got this opportunity.”
Gillespie was in action earlier on Wednesday for the Women’s Team Pursuit Qualifying as Ireland finished in 9th place.
Alongside teammates Emily Kay, Kelly Murphy and Alice Sharpe, Ireland narrowly missed out on qualification for the opening round despite setting a strong time.
Their time of 4.19.934 placed them just 0.815 seconds outside of qualification in a world class field.
Team Ireland are back in competition Thursday as Orla Walsh starts her World Championships in the early afternoon: she’ll be in Sprint Qualifying action from 1.18 pm.